Portable camping house



Aug. 4, 1925.

J. J. HILLGREN I PORTABLE CAMPING HOUSE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m N E ma an W 2 a Q. //4 a K INVENTOR.

AII'GRNEZ Aug. 4, 1925.

J. J. HHLLGREN PORTABLE CAMPING HOUSE Filed March 31 1924 2 Shets-She'c 2 k, ill T A Mi :W 52 u 2 m "W m 1- :i l h? JMHHQ NM REL u R. Q Q, FHFL "VI l llll 1 I 1/ m x Q INVENTOR AZZTORNEYI Patented Aug.

IT STAT JAMES J, HILLGEEN, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA,

PORTABLE CAM-PING- HOUSE.

Application filed March 31, 1924'. Serial No. 703,063;

To all whom it may OOHGG'WL.

Be it known that 1-, JAMES J. HILLGREN, a. citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certainnew and useful- Improvements in Portable Camping Houses, of wiich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to portable campingcottages or shelters for tourists and others said cottages being constructed in such a. manner that they can be transported on a motor vehicle wherever desired, detachedfrom the motor vehicle and arranged. to be set upon the ground and used as sleeping quarters, dining room and living room.

Theobject of the invention is toprovide a simple, inexpensive and practical housing" for the purpose stated.

In the accompanying drawings:

I Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved portable house attached to an automobile, theprops of the house being in contact with the ground to permit the automobile to be driven; outfrom under the house. a

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. 1 with the props omitted, a boat secured on the roof of the house and the whole device in position on the automobile, to be transported.

Fig. 3. is a rear elevation inreduced scale, of the house resting on the ground.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail as on line e4.-V in Fig. 1 showing the preferred form of clamping. means for securing the front part of thehouse on the running board of an; automobile.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the house alonexshowing the left side Wall and interior arrangement of beds, tables, etc.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional, interior view of the right hand front portion of the house with the hinged front wall and attached parts inoperative position.

Fig. '7 is a plan View of my portable house, in reduced scale, about as on line 7-7 in Fig. 1, some details being omitted;

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, my portable house is. an elongated rectangular. shelter with four walls and a roof of which the right hand wall 10, the rear wall 11 and the left side wall 12' are built integral with each other and support a roof 13 suitably sloped and overhanging the walls for drainage purposes. 14' is the front wall hinged at its upper edge, as at'15',

to a suitable front cross member 16 under the roof. The three fixed walls may be made of any suitable material such as sheet metal, canvas, wall board or other mate and windows provided is optional and to suit various conditions but I have illustrated the preferred arrangement, namely two side doors in the right side wall and in the front part thereof, said doors being designated as 21 for the front door adjacent the corner post 17 and spaced rearwardly thereof the other door 22 next to which is a window 23. 24: is a rear door in the rear wall 11. In the left sidewall and oppositedoor 21 is a window 25 and oppositewindow 23 another window 26 (see Figs. 5 and 7). The doors and windows may have vertically slidable sash (not shown) with glass, screen or other suitable panels as the builder may seefit to provide.

2'? are vertically slidable bars each movable between properly spaced vertical frame bars 20 or between one of said bars 20 and a corner P0813117 as shown at the rear corners. The upper part of each bar 27 is provided with a slot 28 through which is passed a bolt 29 passing through any fixed? part of the wall frame (as bar 19: in the rear part of Fig. 1) and carrying a thumb-screw 30' OH its threaded end. Thus the entire house may be elevated with any suitable means and by tightening the thumb-screws may be held in elevated position above the ground. This is necessary when the house is to be transported on an automobile as \Vllli presently be described,

The front wall, as mentioned, is hinged at its upper edge,.al1owing; it to be swung upwardly under the roof where it can. be held in place by flat springs 31 secured as at 32. onev on each side wall, the upper end of each spring being normally sprung inwardly and having a shoulder 33 adapted to engage and hold the front wall in its upper position (see Fig. 5). The side walls are spaced apart slightly more than the extreme width of an automobile therefore it will be rear 'part of the auto used.

readily understood that when the front wall is swung up under the roof and the house has been elevated on itsposts, an automobile can be backed into the house preferably so far that the windshield of the auto, as 34 in Fig. -1, projects slightly forward of the front corner posts '17. This position of the auto brings its front righthand door to a position just inside of door 21 and the adjacent house door 22 is so located that it will be just outside of the rear auto door 36, and the house windows 23 and 26 are respectively opposite the right and left sides of the rear auto seat. Now the front corners of the house are secured each to the ad jacent running board 37 of the auto by a forked member 38 pivoted to swing horizontally on a vertical pin 39' secured in brackets 40 secured on the lower part of the front post 17 and said member straddles the running board 37, as in Fig. 4. It is then firmly secured on the running board by a suitable set screw 41. In this manner the front end of the house "is secured to the automobile. The rear part of the house is secured by different means which must be varied according to the construction of the I have illustrated the type of. car having the rearwardly projecting body springs 42, one at each side, the rear end of each pivotally connected at 4:3 to "the downwardly arched rear end 44;

of the auto frame. 45 is aU-bolt straddling member 44 and extending upwardly through a Z-bar 46 having apertures for receiving said 'U-bolt which is clamped to the frame member by nuts45.- The upper portion of the two Z-bars thus provided are secured permanently to an angle iron bar 47 extending across the house from one side wall to the other and its outer ends secured as at 48 i to wall members 19. It will be understood that before the auto is backed into place the U-bolts are removed and when the auto is being backed'up its frame members M; will stop against the .Zbars which can then be'clamped in place as described. Thus the house issecurely fastened to the automobile and is ready to be transported after the supports 27 have been released and moved upwardly to a position free from contact with the ground.

Theilength of the house. is. a matter of choice. I have shown the length to'be such that when the automobile is in position there is room between the back of it and the rear wall of the house for two vertically spaced cots or, beds49 adapted to be placed crossways within the house and adjacent its rear wall. These beds are accessible through the rear door at all times. If the house is made short so that its rear wall will be close to the. rear of the auto the beds are omitted or can be carried on the roof of the house.

On the inner side of the front wall I provide a vertically disposed cabinet having a vertical row of shelves 50 secured to and between two side walls 51 of the cabinet and in front of each shelf is a guard 52 to prevent articles from falling off of the shelves; (See Figs. 5, 6 and 7.) On the front of this cabinet I hinge a table board 58 as at 5% at a suitable height to serve as a table when it is extended horizontally and supported thusby' an angular brace bar 55 the lower end of which is hinged as at 56 to the lower part of the cabinet. The free end of this brace engages a cleat 57 on the under side of board '53. 58 is a tension coil spring connecting the brace and the cabinet and tending to pull the bar .52 up against the table board 53 when thelatter is swung up to vertical positionand covering all the shelves (see dotted line positions in Figs. 5 and 6). 59 are seat boards hinged as at 60 to'the front wall, one at each side of the'table and adapted to be used as table seats when extended horizontally in which position they are supported each by a hinged prop 61 held in vertical position by a coilspring 62 connectedto the end of the seat board and to the foot of the prop.

.The same spring tends to hold the prop against the seat board when the latter is raised to a vertical position against the wall (see Fig. 6). 63 in Fig. 5 is apawl or other suitable catch secured on upper part of cabinet to engage the edge of the table board when the latter is in closed position; Like means (not shown) may be used to hold the seats in vertical position. When the front wall is swung up under the roof, during transportation, the cabinet, seats, etc., are of course swung up with it and are out of the way while the occupantsof the auto are traveling.

The automobile illustrated is of the touring cartype although it is readily understood that my portable house is equally well attached to other types of automobiles. While traveling, the occupants of the car and particularly the driver have an unob structedlview because the openings in the doors and the windows are spaced to corre spend with the side openings or windows of the automobile. i

(Stare cross cleats on the roof of the house andwhich may'have eye screws 65 or other means through which ropes etc, may

of the transporting means the further advantage is apparent, namely that the automobile used for transporting may be used for making side trips as desired while the house remains in its place.

hen the party desires to move to a new location the house is simple'placed on the auto as described.

What I claim is:

1. A portable house comprising a roof, three adjoining walls built integral with said roof and a fourth wall hingedly sus pended on a horizontal line under the roof.

2. A floorless portable house comprising two rigid parallel side walls, a rigid end wall and a roof, all integral, a pivotally suspended end wall,'opposite the rigid end wall, means in the rigid walls for supporting the house in elevated position and means for securing the house to an auto vehicle while in said elevated position, said means for holding the house in elevated position adapted to be brought into inoperative position when the house is secured to a vehicle.

3. The structure specified in claim 2 in which said means for holding the house elevated comprises a plurality of vertically adjustable ground engaging props slidably mounted in the rigid walls.

4. A portable house comprising a roof, two side and one end walls integrally built, an end wall hingedly suspended between the two side walls and opposite the first mentioned end wall, means for holding said hinged wall suspended under the roof in horizontal position during transportation of the house, means for holding said hinged wall in vertically suspended position and rigidly connected with adjacent ends of the side walls when the house is set on the ground.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JAMES J. HILLGREN. 

